Bourg native makes history as first female chief judge

Wednesday

Jan 9, 2013 at 8:11 PM

BATON ROUGE — Vanessa Guidry-Whipple, a lifelong Terrebonne Parish resident, was sworn in Wednesday as chief judge of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, which has never had a female head administrator since it was constitutionally created in 1906.

Jeremy AlfordCapitol Correspondent

BATON ROUGE — Vanessa Guidry-Whipple, a lifelong Terrebonne Parish resident, was sworn in Wednesday as chief judge of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, which has never had a female head administrator since it was constitutionally created in 1906. Following her oath, Whipple gently gripped the arm of her 3-month-old granddaughter, Juliette, and leaned in for a kiss before sharing a smile with her daughter-in-law. The generational significance was not lost on Whipple, who said her mother raised her with three very simple instructions that began with “always pray” and “love to read,” before ending with what was the most important of all her maternal directives. “She also taught me to dream big,” said Whipple during a nearly two-hour ceremony. Sometimes emotional, Whipple addressed a courtroom full of dignitaries ranging from the robed colleagues who surrounded her behind the dais and media executives in the crowd to top law enforcement officials and current and former judges and legislators. While Whipple is the first woman to serve as chief judge, roughly 22 years ago she was also the first woman elected to the 1st Circuit, which is one of five courts that hear appeals in Louisiana.That makes the significance of her coming term even weightier, she said.“It's truly an awesome responsibility,” Whipple said. Although its work can be reviewed by the Supreme Court, the appellate court creates case law for most all other state courts, serves as a hub for many tax cases and hears appeals involving state government. Of the 350,000 lawsuits filed in Louisiana last year, about 29,000 produced appeals, of which 30 percent were directed to the 1st Circuit. Whipple alone has been involved in 4,100 cases and 7,800 writs during her career on the bench. “She knows how to work,” said fellow Court of Appel Judge Jimmy Kuhn of Ponchatoula, adding Whipple is “courageous and will speak what she thinks is the proper and right thing to do.” From an administrative perspective, Mitch Theriot of Raceland, who joins the court later this month after a successful fall election, said he expects Whipple's plans to upgrade the 1st Circuit's operational systems to leave a lasting impression.“She's adding some state-of-the-art technology, and I think she's going to play a big role in leading the court through the coming years,” he said. During the ceremony's keynote address, Baton Rouge Attorney Ted Jones said Whipple would approach the chief judgeship with “vigor, enthusiasm and a brilliant political and legal mind.” But with every corner of state government being checked for available budget cuts by the Legislature and the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal, Jones said her political skills may prove to be of better use. As chief judge, Whipple is partly responsible for drafting the court's annual budget and ushering it through the legislative process. Whipple said she's ready to defend the court's needs “across the lake,” referencing Capitol Lake, which separates the Capitol building from the 1st Circuit courthouse.A native of Bourg, Whipple attended Terrebonne High School and was given her first professional job by Ray Dill, former publisher of The Courier, who put the future chief judge to work writing for her local newspaper.Whipple said she first approached Dill about a discount for printing the high school newspaper and walked away from the negotiations a working journalist. “Simply, the rest of us are a rough draft,” said Laura Badeaux, director of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government in Thibodaux. “Vanessa is the final copy.”Whipple said her passion for writing continued through her undergraduate degree, majoring in journalism and political science and minoring in biology at the former University of Southwestern University, which was followed by a full law school scholarship at Loyola University. Whipple, recently reelected to her Division D seat without opposition, is replacing Burrell Carter of Greensburg, who retired last month after serving as chief judge for 13 years.In addition to her duties with the 1st Circuit, Whipple serves on a judicial conduct advisory committee for the Louisiana Supreme Court . The 1st Circuit represents a population of about 1.5 million people from 16 parishes — Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Point Coupee, St. Helena, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana.